" Or take a longer and more expensive road to a nastier car. If I did spend 30k odd it would have to come with a decent range or it would really bug me. spending 10-15 and getting 100-150km is ok ... I think ill go to some club meetings and sus some cars out."

I think this is where you need to get some ballpark on what you get for you money with a EV conversion. A lot will depend on what you can do your self though there are just some things you have to pay for.

10k is about what you would spend on batterys alone if you want a 100km range. Motor- controller packages have all ready been mentioned. $5k - 30K. Custom fabrication and engineering/compliance. I would say there wouldn't be to many conversions that would get out of this for under 5k.

There is always a lot of small things that add up together that's often overlooked in the conversion cost Vacuum pumps, power steering, heaters, Battery managment,DC/DC converters and so on.

10k is Not really a option for a ev conversion (yes some will say they can. Though a Datsun 120y with lead acid batterys 80kph top speed and 30km range isn't where we are at now days)

15K you get something but nothing impressive (low range/power in a tiny car)

20K Most likely what I would call the minimum for a small car AC conversion with lithium batterys (though still a modest range).

30K you get something usefully with reasonable range (though most likely still well under 200km more like 100km-150km.

50K you can build something fast and have a bit of range to go with it in a medium sized car.

I think your on the correct track going to view other peoples EV conversions. Ask them honestly how much it has cost and see what you get for your money.

Last edited by offgridQLD on Sun, 22 Nov 2015, 13:01, edited 1 time in total.

I should also mention that purchasing a wrecked but running OEM EV like a Nissan leaf or similar could throw a different spin on the cost of doing a home build EV (If you can get a complete car for 15k) you have everything you need to do a similar conversion that would have cost 30k in aftermarket parts.

offgridQLD wrote: I should also mention that purchasing a wrecked but running OEM EV like a Nissan leaf or similar could throw a different spin on the cost of doing a home build EV (If you can get a complete car for 15k) you have everything you need to do a similar conversion that would have cost 30k in aftermarket parts.

The leaf conversion was very interesting - but I don't think ill do it that way. If I did throw the decent $ at it - what sort of range could I realistically achieve?
Thinking about it - if im going to do it - Im thinking I may as well go for a result that will give me more than a hobby car.

Sure you can have Tesla range. You just need to spend the money. The Telsla is a 150K car in AU and a big chunk of that 150K is the battery.Its the same concept with every EV

Tesla have built a car from the ground up that's basically built around the HUGE battery bank.

Trying to fit that huge battery into a converted ICE car (unless it was a single cab ute or big station wagon would be next to impossible.

If you could purchase a wrecked Tesla and put the battery, motor and all the good bits into a Ute or station wagon then you would have that kind of range (most likely a bit less as it would be in a heavy old steel body and bad aerodynamics in comparison to the Tesla.

Having a 150km rang isn't that bad if there is a fast charger every 100km that you can charge up in 20min.More likely to happen in the populated areas of Australia in time.

It's a issue if you want a car for driving across the country.

Everyone's needs are different. I have 120km max range on my car (110 safe range) It works well for me. If I want to drive long distance I take my diesel car. I con do 95% of my driving needs in the electric car so it gets used a lot.

I don't know - wrecked Leaf packs for $4000 in the USA. Chevy Volt packs for under $1600! I've been looking into some lithiuim polymer cells offering 272 Wh/kg, and they still only cost about $0.66/Wh. These would give a 40 kWh pack for under AUD$30k. To me, the battery is the cheap bit. The motor and drive - the thing that gives you the big dopey smile as you launch off down the road - that's the bit that costs the most. Get it right, and worry about the battery later. Just choose a nice regular shape which allows easy access if you need to service it. And leave that space till you're ready to fill it with as many Coulombs as you can.

Though if you want Tesla range then you would need two of the 40kwh $60,000 worth of cells and then you need to assemble them into a usefull bank with all the hardware a working bank could be 65k+

Using 2nd had oem cells sure changes some cost numbers comparing it to purchasing new raw cells. Though I just thought it's worth pointing out that the Tesla model S is basically a big battery with a car built around it. Trying to accommodate more than 30-40 kwh into a converted ice sedan is a challenge even if it's a big car to start with.

offgridQLD wrote: Though if you want Tesla range then you would need two of the 40kwh $60,000 worth of cells and then you need to assemble them into a usefull bank with all the hardware a working bank could be 65k+

Using 2nd had oem cells sure changes some cost numbers comparing it to purchasing new raw cells. Though I just thought it's worth pointing out that the Tesla model S is basically a big battery with a car built around it. Trying to accommodate more than 30-40 kwh into a converted ice sedan is a challenge even if it's a big car to start with.

I'm not trying to put the fire out just being realistic.

Kurt

Agree it's not as much a price problem as it is a technology problem. As Kurt said the Tesla is basically one big battery and until we can get a battery that has the same sort of storage capacity in a physical space 1/10th of the current Tesla pack, we wont see DIY or main stream production EV's with that kind of range. There is always the other alternative that has been discussed to death.

Great thread on what is achievable. I thought I'd be looking at $20k budget for a DC build (plan was: viewtopic.php?title=my-e318is-build&t=4497), turns out that figure is a minimum for parts and battery, especially now that the dollar has gone south.

All this range anxiety! We bought a diesel Golf (one that turned out to be scandalous) and we've used it twice in a whole year to travel more than 100km at one time. Meanwhile the BMW sits in the garage. The Golf has another problem with injectors or something, it's out of warranty and we're trying to work out what's wrong, wrote to VW and they've created a 'case' which we expect to hear something about soon, so far nobody knows as the VW dealer workshop couldn't reproduce the issue and their computers couldn't figure it out, but it does this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... pVBr2D1Y0U

The end game is we want to ditch it because it's rubbish, in the last year the boot lock has been replaced, and the power window button is about to cark it, the car is clearly built to fall apart at around 100000km.

We are looking at spending a bomb on the BMW and turn it into a really nice build (including fixing all the things like refreshing suspension etc) with the typical 100-150 range achievable off the shelf.

Then hire a petrol burner for long trips until such times as we can make it using charge stations or friendly peoples outlets. And if we have to hang for a while somewhere random, so what? 90% of the rare long distance travel we do is when we are holidaying. If we hire a car a few times a year, it still works out heaps cheaper than running a second car. Hire a hybrid even better.

got a bit depressed with it all (arf arf) - just the range and power thing - didnt add up to me cost wise. However, im back on track and looking for the best way forward - after a small bit of R&D - looking at a curtis 1238-7601 AC-50 brushless AC motor etc - has anyone used one of these - what sort of results might i expect from it - performance wise..

(ive changed cars to - ill use a Mk 1 v6 capri shell - much lighter than the black mk3 pictured and i have heaps of them - ill make it as light as possible on the way thru)

spud115 wrote: got a bit depressed with it all (arf arf) - just the range and power thing - didnt add up to me cost wise.

Yeah don't think it will until petrol is like over $2 a liter.
Or there is a shortage of petrol.
Know how you feel tho.

spud115 wrote:looking at a curtis 1238-7601 AC-50 brushless AC motor etc - has anyone used one of these - what sort of results might i expect from it - performance wise..

55kW $6,600.
Seems a bit light on power wise but probably ok for a 1T car - with a gearbox.
As an alternative could ditch the gearbox and use the Kostov 11" direct drive.
The DC system probably is a bit cheaper, bit more power and no box to deal with.

Help prevent road rage - get outta my way! Blasphemy is a swear word. Magnetic North is a south Pole.

Your right - and ive had another look - so am now looking at a net gain warp 11 inch - 2 reasons 1. there are a lot of add ons available (and i cant be bothered machining stuff up)- inc brackets for brake booster, air cond and power steer etc, and couplings for tail shift/another motor etc. 2. i dont have to have a gearbox.
I know its DC but it looks to have good grunt for the $!?
I would like to mount it in the tunnel - but concerned re dirt etc & cooling issues given the tight space.
I saw that EVwest (US) has a coupling so u can hook 2 motors together if your keen..